The Fairy and the Tiger
by mobile54691
Summary: A young girl is alone and crying in the woods only to be attacked by monsters and save by a teenage boy with salmon hair. How will this effect the story. What changes will they make in each other via their interactions. Only time will tell.


_**I do not own Fairy Tail**_

 **The Dragon and the Tiger**

A little girl, no older than thirteen, was crying alone in the woods. She had black hair styled in buns that faced up and two long black sets of strands that frame her face. Her olive-green eyes were leaking tears that streamed down her face and onto the ground. Her shirt was blue with a light blue circle on it. The shirt left her shoulders bare and sleeves covered her arms. She had on black shorts and blue shoes that look like ballet slippers. Her arms were wrapped around her knees as she cried. She hears the snap of a twig behind her and turns around to see four large monsters bearing down upon her.

She thinks _'This is it, this is the end? But I never even got to be happy!'_

She closes her eyes and screams, hoping it will be over quickly. Then she hears **"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"**

The girl looks up to see a teenage boy with salmon colored hair, a white scaly scarf, a sleeveless black waistcoat, belt, white shorts, and blue sandals. The boy was breathing a large amount of flames at the monsters, incinerating them. As the flame started to go out the girl realized that the boy had rescued her. He then turned around and gave her a large smile before he started talking to her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She simply nodded, not trusting her voice to work properly. After all, the boy saving her was the first time that somebody had shown her affection or kindness in a long time.

The boy walks over and looks at the girl up and down. He noticed that she had obviously been crying and that she was all alone in this forest. He decides that the best way to move forward is to talk to her about it.

"Hey, why are you crying? And why are you out here all alone, did you lose your parents?"

The question about her parents caused the girl to start crying again. Seeing this, the boy knelt down and wrapped his arms around her. The contact stunned her at first but after her time in the woods she buried her face into his chest and continued to cry harder. The boy simply held her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear as she cried away the years of pain. Eventually the two fell asleep in each-other's arms, leaving the pain and explanations to sit until the morning.

As the sun rose and bathed the forest in the light of a new day, the black-haired girl roused from the most restful slumber she had in a long time. She reveled in the warm feeling that surrounded her as she snuggled tighter into the teenage boys embrace before realizing what she was doing and who she was doing it with. She squeaked and jumped up, rousing the boy with her movement.

"Good morning!" he said happily as he got up off the ground.

"Good morning..." she mumbled back.

"Listen, it is obvious that something is causing you a lot of pain." He said to her calmly "I didn't save you last night just to leave you to suffer here alone so, if you're feeling up to it, I would like to talk about what you're going through."

She hesitated for a moment, her dad had done his best to keep her isolated and without friends. However, something in her was telling her to give this salmon haired boy a chance. So, she braced herself and mustered her courage to give the hardest explanation of her life.

"My name is Minerva Orland. The reason I am out here is because my dad brought me out here and left me in the forest to either shed my weak heart or die." She explained as calmly as she could.

"That's terrible." He said. "And those bruises and marks, are they from him too?"

She looked up to see a magical aura begin to form around the salmon haired boy. She watched as his already long canines became even more pronounced and his eyes turn a similar color to her own but with diamond slitted pupils. She meekly nodded at him before saying

"He did it because I was weak. I am in his guild, Sabertooth, and I was sparring with a man who I defeated. My father then ordered me to kill him and when I hesitated, he did it himself and then left me in here." By the end, she was crying again. She thought that the new boy would hate her for being weak too. However, just as she was about to give up hope, the familiar feeling of him wrapping his arms around her again.

"My name is Natsu, Natsu Dragneel." He said. "A guild should never treat its own like that." He told her.

"My father says-"She started.

"Your father is wrong!" He exclaimed, "I have been a part of Fairy Tail for many years and they treat everyone like family."

"That sounds nice…" She said. "I wish our guild was like that, but my father says that it has to be his way in order for us to be the strongest guild."

"If that were true then why is Fairy Tail the strongest guild?" He says.

She just looks at him contemplating what he said. It is true, Fairy Tail is known as the strongest guild and if what Natsu said was true then Sabertooth was only weakening itself.

"Would you like to come with me to Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked Minerva.

"I wish I could but I just can't." She replied, saddened. "Someday I'll be free of my father though."

"Well how about for now, I can help you get stronger." He said with a large smile. "I can train you and teach you how to survive in these woods. That will make sure that you get better and stay safe."

She finally smiled for him and said "That sounds wonderful."

So, the two acquaintances decided to stay together for a while. Natsu taught her everything that she needed to know about surviving in the woods. They went over how to find shelter, food, water, what to do when you were injured. Then there was the physical training. Every day he began to train her physically like Igneel had trained him. Sparring and exercising for hours to increase her speed, strength, and combat readiness. Eventually, they cranked it up a notch to include meditation and mental conditioning so that both of them would be able to hide what they were thinking and feeling. Minerva, so that she could pretend to be the perfect daughter that her father wanted and Natsu so that he could keep his power a secret until the time was right to use it. After all, it was always better to be underestimated by your opponents.

During this time, they shared their lives with one another. Nothing ended up being held back as they poured out their souls to one another. Minerva spoke about the death of her mother and her father showing his true colors right afterward. She even told him that she suspected he had something to do with her mother's death. She also spoke about how even though her father was the one who taught her magic, she loved being a mage and loved her magic, something she and Natsu had in common. Natsu spoke to her about all of his life as well. Starting from his childhood with Igneel and being taught dragon slaying magic, going on to meet the Fairy Tail guild master Makarov and joining the guild. Then he moved on to telling her about all of his friends that he had at the guild and his partner in crime, Happy. Finally, he told her about the death of Lisanna and how hard it had been for him to lose his first friend.

Before they realized it, three months had come and gone. It was time for them to resume their own separate adventures. Both looked at it with heavy hearts and teary eyes as they had grown so close to one another. Minerva had filled a place in his heart that only Lisanna had been able to fill. Not replacing Lisanna, but carving out her own piece in that section of his life. For Minerva, Natsu represented the only good that she had since her mother died. Admittedly, despite Natsu being sixteen and her being twelve, she had grown to have a large crush on the young dragon slayer. She knew that she would have to wait till she was older before trying to talk to Natsu about that though. Natsu on the other hand only saw her as someone that he could help in a time of great need.

"Thank you for saving me and all that you've done, Natsu." She suddenly told him as he was packing up his things.

"No problem!" Natsu replied with a large smile. "Spending time with you was a lot of fun."

She looked at Natsu smiling down at her and felt her heart flutter. That large smile and happy attitude that he had filled her with hope that she had long felt was impossible. She started to smile back and then was overwhelmed by the urge to hug Natsu again. Natsu wraps his arms around her and comforts ask she basks in the kindness that she has been denied for years as well as the kindness she will be denied for years to come.

"I will come for you." Natsu tells Minerva "I will come for you and set you free from the prison that binds you to that horrible man that you are forced to call father."

Her eyes welled up with tears as he said those words with such conviction and certainty that she could not help but believe in him. A smile came to her face, it started out very small but eventually grew until she was smiling from ear to ear. She looked up at him and he looked down at her. Two people who have both had tough lives, one abandoned and the other abused, formed a bond then and there.

"I believe in you Natsu." Minerva said with certainty "I know that you will come for me and I will be waiting for that day."

They separate from each other, knowing that their time together has impacted both of them despite how short their few months together actually was. Minerva had grown so much more powerful training under the dragon slayer, while Natsu had matured greatly from watching over and training Minerva.

"No matter what happens, someday I will save you from the cruel hand that you have been dealt." Natsu assures her. "Just do whatever you have to in order to survive until then and never give up hope."

"I promise that I won't, Natsu." Minerva says "I promise that I'll keep faith in you and survive until that day."

With that, Minerva begins to go back to the guild which her father rules with an iron fist. It is with a heavy heart that she returns to the place of her misery, but she knows that if she were to leave with Natsu now it would spell their doom. Her father would never accept not dominating her life and Natsu was not yet strong enough to protect her from him nor was she strong enough to protect herself. That is not even mentioning the charges that could be leveled against Fairy Tail if they harbored her from her father and he found out.

Despite the bleak outlook that the future held, there was one ray of hope that shone through the darkness of her life. Natsu Dragneel had changed Minerva Orland. He had saved her from the dark and evil path that her father had tried to force her on. He had steeled her resolve to face the challenges that that would lie ahead of her. Finally, he had given her hope that someday she would be free to live her life as she chose. So, with those thoughts in mind and a new spirit she put on the mask that she would be forced to wear until Natsu came again. Though they could not communicate with one another and they could not see one another, she chose to believe in him.

After a week of walking, she uses her magic to slam open the doors to her guild. Minerva walks in strong and regal, the perfect daughter that Jiemma desired. Her aura forced other member of the guild to clear the way as she walks up to her father's throne at the head of the guild hall. He looks her up and down, inspecting her for any flaw that she may have. He sees no weakness in her gaze, only fierce determination and confidence. Confidence that can only be forged by battle and strength. Jiemma nods approvingly, through his motions conflict with the look on his face that seems to tell everyone that they are nothing more than insects for him to step on.

"Obviously, I was right about the forest." Jiemma says "Perhaps you may be worth something to me after all."

Minerva simply nods, hiding the fact that she no longer cares about what her despicable father believes her worth is. She knows that she judges her own worth and nobody can take that away from her. So, with thoughts of Natsu and the confidence he had given her in her heart, she steps forward into her destiny.

Natsu's return to his guild was filled with questions that he simply waved off. Erza tried beating it out of him but when he showed that it was started to anger him guild master Makarov forced her to accept Natsu's privacy. Happy berated him for leaving him in Erza's care for so long. He apologized to Happy but still could not help but think about the little black haired girl he met in the woods. He was so sad to leave her because it almost felt like he was abandoning her just like Igneel had abandoned him. Natsu steeled his resolve, now with a concrete reason to get stronger.

Until now, finding Igneel and protecting the guild had been his reasons. But those are pretty big concepts that are hard to use as constant motivation. However, growing strong enough to save one girl with a cute smile and a big heart lit a fire in his belly. Attacking his training with new vigor and looking for new ways to increase his power, he pressed on, vowing to fulfill his promise to Minerva.

 _ **Two Years Later**_

 _Natsu-Almost 19_

 _Minerva-14_

Minerva came down from her quarters to hear her father laughing about something. Curious, she walked over to him to ask what it was that had him in such a mood.

"What do you find so amusing, father?" She asked.

"See for yourself." He said as he handed her the newspaper.

It took all of her emotional control to remain calm as she read the article about Tenrou Island's destruction at the hands of Grimoire Heart and Acnologia. She looked down the list of names of the people that were lost in its destruction to see the name that she was begging would not be on there. Natsu Dragneel.

"I see, well we knew that they were weak anyway." She said, her words not showing her true feelings.

"Obviously, the Fairy scum is now gone. Sabertooth will take the mantle as the strongest guild." He states with triumphant glee.

Minerva dismisses herself after that, any thoughts of food or breakfast forgotten as she tries to maintain her composure on her way back to her quarters. She opened and shut her door before silencing it using a built-in enchantment. Then she cried for the first time since she met Natsu, pulling out a box from under her bed. She opened the box to show that it was filled with articles about the young dragon slayer. The jobs he had done, the destruction he had wrought, and of course all of the people he had saved on his adventures. The boy who had stolen her heart was gone and she would never see him again. She cried for that, she cried for her dreams of freedom, she cried for the dreams of her future adventures with Natsu, she cried for her only friend. She cried until she fell asleep, simply unable to bear the weight of the loss she had suffered that day.

 _ **Seven Years and Three Months Later**_

 _Minerva-21_

 _Natsu-19_

Minerva, having been away for a job, had not heard any news as she walked through the city of Crocus. She was not really paying attention to her surroundings as she reminisced about her friend. To this day, Natsu was the only one to make it close to her heart. Not a day goes by where she does not wish that he was here with her. She eventually got to the hotel and opened the door. A couple of the guild members tried to get her attention, but one look from her showed that their attempts were unappreciated and they quickly quieted down. As she walks to Jiemma he states

"Yukino has been banished, you shall be in the challenge tomorrow. Go to your room upstairs, it is marked. I expect you to win."

"Of course, father." She states as she walks past him. Later that night, she awakens to the sound of tapping on her window. She looks over to her window to see what looks like a cat with wings slip a note under her window. She gets up and walks over to the window to find the cat already gone. Minerva looks down at the note and gasps as she read its message.

 _The time for your freedom has come._

So, this is an idea that has been running around my head as of late. My favorite Fairy Tail pairings happen to be quite unpopular ones. I really like Natsu/Seilah, Natsu/Ultear, Natsu/Lisanna, Natsu/Kagura, and Natsu/Minerva. As I am sure many of you know these do not have a lot of attention based around them especially compared to Natsu/Lucy. I like these non-traditional groupings because I do not like Lucy's character. Now this does not mean that I will bash Lucy. I do not believe that I tend to write that way but I am still new to this.

This fic is a Natsu/Minerva fic. Other couples will be included but it is not a harem fic. Natsu will be more powerful in this fic than in cannon because he has had a concrete reason to gain that strength, one that is even more concrete than the 'death' of Lisanna. However, he will not be insane. He will not come out of the gate fighting at Gildart's level but he will get there some day. Other details will have to wait until later in the fic.

A brief intro to me- I am an electrical engineer straight out of college who has taken an interest in writing as a creative outlet. I love anime, video games, martial arts, etc. I figured that I could try my hand at this and see if people like my writing style. Of course, I am also looking to improve that style. I love fanfiction and think that other people's interpretations of things can be very interesting. I do not do smut and violence may sometimes be realistic since I try to be descriptive in a way that paints a picture in the reader's head as I write. I will happily accept reviews and hope you enjoy the read.

Also, as a note to all of those who have read my previous story, I am not abandoning it. However, it was hectic getting my first post graduate job and so I kind of forgot about it. I will go back to it whenever the inspiration strikes me for it.


End file.
